Toyota's announcement on Wednesday that the recession had forced it to withdraw from Formula One included the statement that the company “intends to move forward in developing exciting production vehicles, such as the Lexus LFA supercar.”

How ironic.

An hour after Toyota dropped its F1 bomb, Ferrari--the sport's longest-serving and most famous competitor--spent the day flaunting its racing heritage by throwing us the keys to its newest and most advanced road car, the 458 Italia.

Maranello's latest creation boasts more F1 cues and connections than any road-going Ferrari produced, and those connections are evident the moment you pop the latch to the driver's door and climb aboard. And we're not talking about the little badge commemorating the 2008 F1 constructors' championship.

If you have seen pictures of the 458's interior, you might have wondered when--and more to the point, why--Ferrari hired Honda's design team. Certainly, the minimalist dashboard is a marked departure from an elegant, analog past. Wrapped in hand-stitched leather, it features an instrument cluster flanked by two air vents that resemble miniature home entertainment speakers, or perhaps Darth Vader's air inlet. A large tachometer positioned dead ahead is the only three-dimensional gauge; at first glance the entire concept seems ill-conceived and downright gimmicky. That perception grows when you open the door and see a digital screen to the left of the tach displaying “458 Italia,” while another to the right lights up with “Ferrari.” Ahhh yes, the Italian GT-R, then.

But turn the key and push the start button on the switch-laden steering wheel (more on that later). The all-new 4.5-liter V8 bangs to life with a deep boom as the info screens offer an encyclopedia of data at the push of a button (or three). Maybe this makes sense.

The direct-injection engine idles smooth and quiet at 800 rpm, but you are a long, long way from the 9,000-rpm rev limiter. Click the upshift paddle into first gear and step on the throttle. The 458 rocks you back into the seat as the tach slams to the redline before you realize it is time to shift again. And again. And again. Ferrari would not allow instrumented testing this time around, but its claim of 0 to 62 mph in less than 3.4 seconds does not appear inflated. Neither does its almost unbelievable suggestion that this seven-speed, double-clutch gearbox (seen first on the California) needs just 0.04 second to swap ratios that are specific to this car. In reality, the time required is only what it takes for the computer to tell the transmission to engage the next gear, since the double-clutch layout means that the gear is already preselected and ready to transfer drive power. Of which there is plenty.

Video displays flank both sides of the central tachometer in the gauge cluster.

The Italia--so named because company boss Luca di Montezemolo said so--is the most powerful and highest revving V8-powered production car in company history, with 562 hp (a mind-numbing, normally aspirated record of 125 hp per liter) at 9,000 rpm and 398 lb-ft of torque (89 per liter) at 6,000, with more than 80 percent of that torque available from 3,250. Engineers worked to reduce the 90-degree, dry-sump V8's internal friction (12.5:1 compression ratio) and used techniques learned in F1, such as the use of a “diamond-like carbon” valve tappet coating to do so, as well as applying anti-friction treatments to the piston skirts and camshafts, while also reducing the piston-ring thickness.

The exhaust note is typical Ferrari magic, taking on a race-car-like pitch past 4,000 rpm and simply growing loader as the revs climb. Power and torque come on immediately and there is no sense of falloff all the way to redline. The biggest challenge in managing it all is timing your shifts properly so that the engine does not bounce off the rev limiter, since the V8 makes its maximum power right at rev limit. But the gearbox's speed and precision, along with the accompanying crackles, pops and rev-matching blips for downshifts, makes this the first time this writer has felt even a twinge of belief that such paddle-shifted transmissions are as entertaining as their stick-and-clutch counterparts. The bad news for buyers: Ferrari will not offer any other gearbox when the car goes in sale in the Unites States next June, so there is no choice regardless of personal preference.

On twisting streets and mountain roads, the 458 Italia defines “point and squirt.” Or more like “point and blast.” If the new-age instruments seem video game-like, that's appropriate because at times the entire car feels like a virtual machine ported into the real world. The wheelbase is 1.9 inches longer than the outgoing F430's, for increased stability, and the chassis slices into bends with a nice, neutral balance before the front end gives up when pushed too far. Carbon ceramic brakes are as strong as any on the planet, and even better, the brake pedal is setup as a race car's: rock solid with little travel, never imparting any sense of fade. Steering is well-weighted with no perceptible dead zone. This combination allows you to brake hard into corners with confidence, turn in and go. It helps that the magnetically-controlled suspension--a Delphi-sourced technology also used by General Motors, notably on the Corvette--exhibits as little dive, roll and squat as you could reasonably, or even unreasonably, expect. And if you don't like the car's behavior, the “Manettino” is at your fingertips.

The little red switch on the bottom right of the steering wheel controls the car's dynamic mode, with five different options: Low Grip, Sport, Race, CT (traction control) Off, and CST (traction and stability control) Off. Depending on which dynamic mode you select, the settings for traction control, stability control, ABS, shift logic, suspension and the E-Differential are affected.

The 4.5-liter V8 in the Ferrari 458 Italia is the most powerful V8 ever in a Ferrari production car.

The diff and traction control settings intrigue the most, and again you appreciate the F1 inspiration. The E-Diff's mission is to vary its lockup and distribute torque to the rear wheels throughout the three phases of cornering, and it works. In Race mode, you push the car to its traction limit without ever feeling as though you are near it. The beauty of Ferrari's systems, unlike most others, is that they feel almost entirely unobtrusive on the street and are generally unobtrusive on the track. Powering through mountain curves, the traction control light flickers constantly to let you know it is working, yet you do not feel it doing so. There are none of the abrupt power cuts that blight most such systems; instead, you come out of corners starting to believe you could hang with Michael Schumacher. You feel so to a slightly lesser degree on the race track.

Given a few laps of Ferrari's Fiorano test track, the power goes away while attempting to apply throttle too soon. But switch the Manettino to TC Off and the computer allows you relatively large slides before the stability control reins you back in line, literally.

Other F1-inspired technology includes thousands of hours of wind tunnel time that drop the drag coefficient from 0.34 to 0.33 (compared with the outgoing F430). The car's various ducts and bodywork--note the absence of gaudy wings--produce 724 pounds of downforce at the 202-mph top speed, more downforce than the Enzo supercar sans its wing, according to Ferrari. Aluminum alloy used in the aeronautics field increase the chassis' stiffness significantly. Launch control is included too, though “control” is a bit deceiving. Push the “Launch” button, hold the brake and stomp the gas. Revs climb to 3,000 before you release the brake and go. However, at that point your right foot controls everything, and mashing it to the floor smokes the tires until the engine hits the limiter; you still need to have some skill to achieve ultimate acceleration times.

Still, all of this adds up to an Exocet missile almost anyone can drive, and drive hard. Even with the transmission set to automatic in the comfort-oriented Sport mode, the gearbox rips downshifts with aplomb. Leave it in automatic (heresy, yes) and switch to Race or higher, and though you might find it hard to swallow, the 458 Italia is damn fun to drive. The transmission grabs gears hard and fast, up and down, and keeps the engine smack in its power band at all times; it feels no different compared with shifting yourself, except for the feel of the paddles on your finger tips. As you soon find yourself fiddling with the various data displays, checking various pressures and temperatures, while also operating the turn signals and window wipers direct from the steering wheel, a thought occurs: This must be what it's like to drive an F1 car.

It's not. Far from it. But Ferrari has created a high-performance experience that does not feel at all contrived. With performance to match, the 458 Italia has set a new target for future mid-engined, V8-powered exotics.

Mac Morrison
- Mac Morrison is Autoweek’s senior editor for Motorsports covering racing at all levels, from club events to NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA and Formula One. He also contributes to Autoweek’s coverage and testing of new cars and the automotive industry.
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